Playback
by LuckiiBeckii
Summary: Drabbles of events in recent and past Terminator episodes. Reliving scenes we've seen before, and filling in the missing pieces in between scenes as well as adding my own. a little bit of everything, it's sure to please a Jameron fan or two!
1. Set 00101:Playback

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**Playback-Drabble 1**

**_Started as a little one shot after the Season Finale, specifically episodes 108 and 109, exploded into something more then I'd bargained for, lol. might continue little drabbles together in chapter format, and as the episodes continue, exploring different perspectives of different scenes. Won't be naming them, so only true watchers of the show will know which scene is being narrated. Feedback much appreciated._**

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John gently put the micro processor back into it's casing on the side of Cameron's head. Look at him, treating her like a person. Forgetting 'she' was an 'it' and almost stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the fact. But it was there, clear as day. 

She was a robot.

He pressed the flap of skin he'd cut to get at the piece firmly back in place. It was then that his hands felt how soft her hair was. How delicate and vulnerable she seemed, laid out on the bed, in the gentle lamplight.

Nothing like the machine she was in reality. She was…beautiful. And once upon a time, John had believed Terminators could never be beautiful.

His hand lingered over her hair, slipping some away from her face and stroking it down, looking into her eyes. Empty, lifeless eyes, if for the next 60 seconds, but beautiful eyes.

What was he doing?

She gave a jerk, and he jerked his hand away in unison, supporting himself with that hand on her other side. She looked up at him, the eyes slightly more animated, studying his face and trying to understand the incomprehensible behind it.

He sat back, pulled his arm away, getting slightly warm at what the scene would've looked like had his mom come in.

"So…what was it like…What did you see?" he asked calmly, a small smile on his face as she continued to look at him with a blank stare of innocence, maybe trying to understand that flash of something in John's eyes that he never bothered to hide from her, maybe because he knew she could never understand it.

"I saw everything." she said matter of factly, still staring, coaxing the answer to the forefront of her laboriously constructed synthetic mind. For someone…or something with all the answers, this simple one escaped her.

They sat in silence, staring into each others eyes for some time, John willing that extra spark of life to flare up in hers, and she, an eager to learn machine, trying to learn just what it was John Connor was thinking.

She'd never guess he was thinking about her.

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**Fire and Brimstone- Drabble 2**

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"Mom?" John asked, frightened as they walked slowly through the kitchen, Sarah with her gun raised and ready. The explosion had set off neighboring car alarms and the whine wasn't kind to their ears. 

The soft and eager sound of flames hissed behind all.

They reached the door. John's head whipped around the front of the house, trying to see who it was Cameron must be fighting now, and what had set off the explosion. But no one was to be seen, except a lone man walking away, almost beyond eye distance now.

He never looked back. Sarah started up the block but John caught her shoulder.

"Oh God…Mom…Cameron!" he could barely take a breath as he stared at the wreckage of their car, immersed in flame, and there was no doubt Cameron had been inside it when it had erupted.

John was shocked to find tears rush to his eyes, the familiar burn he'd felt so many times before rushed forward and slid down his cheeks, unashamed and unafraid.

But then, as they watched, dejected shadows overlooking a massacre, something caught the light within the flames.

Something metallic.

John walked blindly closer to the wreck, eyes bleary with tears but hands outstretched in hope. Sarah pulled him back as she had before. He stood awkwardly watching…waiting…hoping.

The endoskeleton was extremely light reflective, the shine from the flames and sun blinding both John and Sarah.

Sarah's mind immediately flashed to her nightmare, of so long ago it seemed. She hastily pulled John behind her, and held out her gun. If the explosion had altered Cameron's functions, she had to go, no matter what John might scream and plead. He was in no place to judge. She knew that now. And with a hint of disgust she acknowledged the truth. Her son was falling in love with a robot.

The skeleton turned, and Sarah observed it was smaller, more streamlined, and more human like in nature then the one from her nightmare. But this made it all the more frightening.

"Cameron! Cameron! Please!" John shouted from behind Sarah, calling almost in vain.

The shining skeleton turned, and Cameron's face and familiar eyes met them. Half her cheek was torn away by the explosion, and she had several cuts and lesions across most of her forehead and shoulders. The rest of her had been burned clear away.

"There was thermite in the igniter fluid. I smelled it the minute after The key sparked the ignition in the vehicle. Whomever did this planned to destroy me, not you."

She said all this calmly, with a tinny crackle to her voice. The voice transmitter had most likely been damaged as well.

John had recovered himself significantly and he came from behind Sarah, who was still alert if not as defensive as before.

"C-can we find the parts you need? Rebuild you, I mean? Replace skin and all that? Just tell me what I need, I'll get it, I promise." he babbled worriedly, reaching out a hand to touch the metal embedded just under her grazed cheek.

"Don't touch!" she snapped, whipping her head away. "The flames have heated my alloy to unbearable temperatures. Unless you want to lose that finger, I'd stay away."

John's heart thudded wildly in his chest, and he dropped his hand, happy to have all five fingers still attached.

"Yes, all the materials required for my repair are available and easily obtained, with my faculties." she answered his question while walking up to the front door, all the pistons and gears in her legs and arms working energetically to get her there, now exposed for all to see.

"Who did this?" Sarah finally managed to ask, her hand slowly returning the pistol to it's hip holster as they all went back inside, the shock of seeing Cameron blown half to bits now over and other methods of thinking taking over.

"Short man, in his 40's most likely with a 5 o'clock shadow and grey eyes. Walked away from the site but not before looking back at me."

"You got all this from what, 5 seconds of seeing him?" John asked, slightly impressed.

Cameron smiled slightly, which looked oddly grotesque now considering half her upper lip was missing. Her tinny voice crackled even more. "I have a playback function. It's very useful."


	2. Set 00102:Alterations

**Thank you so much! Wow, 6 reviews first day out! I guess i wasn't the only one completely blown away by that finale, literally and figuratively, hehe. glad I could comfort those who just needed an SCC fix after that catastrophe of a cliffhanger ending! Here's the next installment of drabbles!**

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**Let Them Eat Cake-Drabble 3**

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It was a bit after 2. John was in the basement, eating ice-cream cake while watching the window tensely. Any approach to the house would be seen by him first. Their feet, at least.

"So much for my birthday." he murmured to himself, wiping a bit of frosting off his lips while he waited. Sarah had taken Cameron to a nearby checkpoint, set up by resistance fighters in the future to repair or otherwise destroy rogue terminators. Apparently all the supplies she needed for restoration were stored there as well.

He'd been reluctant to let her go alone, once her alloys had cooled, he'd touched her cheek and it was still warm to the touch, like skin, but hard and oddly smooth.

"My bodily functions are still operational. My temperature regulator keeps my surface at a steady 98.6 degrees. The thermite affected the variants, causing the pressure heat after the explosion." she'd explained as he did so, an odd look in his eyes. Sort of a mixture of anger and fascination.

Far from finding the whole thing disgusting, John found it amazing. Derek watched from the kitchen door, and kept averting his eyes in obvious distaste. Sarah had stood over by the sink, giving the exposed robot and her son a lot of meaningful glances, most of which John just didn't see and Cameron couldn't process.

Sarah had run out and got cake before taking Cameron to the checkpoint so John was now on his third piece, feeling pretty full but still managing to lick his plate. Hey, his mom wasn't there to scold and Cameron wasn't there to comment. It was safe.

"You really like ice-cream don't you." Derek chuckled from the door. John put down the plate, licking the last of the blue frosting off his lips.

"Didn't you guess by now?" John smiled. He wasn't really in a chatty mood. The sun was going lower in the sky and his clear view of the front walk would soon be hindered by shadow. Derek didn't help his concentration.

"I don't know what you see in it." the man said evenly, with an edge of disbelief.

John's heart caught in his throat. "It?"

"Yeah. It's a machine, John, and regardless of what you may think, It's could turn in the wrong hands and hunt you down."

John shook his head, the ice-cream cake already churning uncomfortably in his stomach. "No. No way. Never."

Derek came up to the chair and gripped John's shoulder. Hard.

"Listen. You think you know everything? Kid, you don't know shit. You might know in a couple of years but you still got a ways to go. If it was that easy to pull out that things brain and use it, then it'll be just as easy for someone else to do it too."

"Don't be stupid. She was complacent. She LET us do it! She's not going to let just anybody walk up and take her chip. Get real."

"Oh and so you think 'Vick' just waltzed over and gave us his? Brute force to brute force, it's anybody's game."

John didn't know where all this defensiveness was coming from but he had a slight idea.

"She's smaller then they are. More agile, better built, she learns by seeing. She's even more equipped then they are to take them down before they can even get within earshot of her chip!"

Derek fell quiet, unable to dodge around the logic in the statement.

"That's what scares me. If she's so much better equipped to take other Terminators down…then she'll be twice as affective if she gets flipped."

"She WON'T." John almost yelled.

Footsteps on the walkway attracted both their attentions.

John walked sedately upstairs, trying to hide the eagerness in his footsteps. She was okay. Back to normal, good as new.

"Happy Birthday John." her voice box fixed, new skin grown, the whole works.

He smiled and took the proffered blue envelope. "Thanks! Guys, you didn't have to-"

Sarah sat down at the table and grinned. "Don't thank me! The minute Tin Miss got fixed up, she wanted to buy you a gift. So we stopped by a CVS. She picked it out herself."

John looked up from the envelope, half-torn open at Cameron, who gave a real smile. "Open it!" she encouraged.

He proceeded to rip open the envelope and took out the card. A puppy gamboled across the front, followed by a boy with a blue hat and brown hair.

"He reminded me of you for some unknown reason. Maybe in the hair pigmentation." Cameron babbled in the background, almost self-consciously. John's heart soared.

_To John_

_Wishing you the best on this most important of days_

_Love,_

_Cameron_

The love wasn't in her script, having been pre-printed on the card. But seeing it there, and then her name underneath…"Wow, it's great. Thanks so much." He got up to hug her, thought better of it, and sat back down, playing awkwardly with the envelope on the table.

"Happy Birthday John." she repeated.

He smiled, then looked at Sarah. "You guys find the checkpoint okay?" he asked vaguely, happy to have a different subject to jump on other then his almost-hug with a cyborg.

"Easily enough. It's in a nice secluded place down by the outskirts of town. Fully equipped, artillery and everything. I'd recommend using it as our hideaway should they find us here instead of moving again. It has reinforced doors like the storehouse we went to a while back." she winked at John, who of course remembered.

"Nice." the idea of staying put lifted his spirits even higher.

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**Prom-Drabble 4**

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"Okay, listen to me. This is going to be tricky, but if you just follow what I tell you to do, you'll be fine."

John looked oddly pensive as he paced in front of Cameron, eyes straining to stay off of her in her beautiful blue and white prom dress Sarah'd bought for her.

_Brother, Brother, Brother_

The mantra played over and over again in his head but it didn't help. He finally faced her…

And let out a great gush of air he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Okay. Tell me what to do." she said calmly, watching him intently.

He tore his gaze away from her and nodded. "I…right. First of all, do you know how to dance?"

Cameron looked away, thinking. "Yes. I am quite skilled at the pas de chat."

John looked flustered. "No, no I mean, with someone else. You're going to have to dance with Morris, so you need to know how."

Cameron looked confused. "Someone else? I have only thus far learned to dance alone. It is a requirement of the beginning stages of ballet."

John took a deep breath and went up to her. "He's going to do this." He put his hand on her waist, and the other took her other hand and brought it up. She was watching him closely, like an overeager child learning a lesson.

"Or, knowing him, this." he dropped her hand and put it on the other side of her waist. Her hands hung limp at her sides. "Now, you put your hands on my shoulders." John guided patiently.

"Why?"

"Just do it." she obeyed. "This seems to be breaking all the parameter rules for human contact that I have observed. Are you sure this is permissible?"

John smirked. "At prom? Hell yeah."

She copied his smile. "Hell yeah."

"Don't do that."

"What?"

"Repeat what I say."

"I'm sorry."

John looked at her. She stared blankly back. "I-it's okay."

"10 minutes, guys!" Sarah called from the kitchen.

"Right…um what else…ah, yes. If Morris tries to do this…" John leaned towards her face, calmly enough considering he was a wreck inside. "…and kisses you, don't you kiss back! Just say your brother will kill you."

"But you won't, really." she said.

"No. I just don't like the idea…give him false hope…all that…poor guy."

They were silent for a second.

"You know what a kiss is, right?"

"Yes."

"…is there anyone you're allowed to kiss?"

"No."

"Good."

"Can I ask a question?"

"Yes."

"What if I wanted to kiss someone?"

John stopped pacing, his heart thudding wildly. "You…you can want?"

"I think so. I experienced an odd drive change after I took ballet classes, and I danced even though the mission no longer required it. Since then I have often felt such drive changes, to go beyond my mission parameters. I want to help you. When I first was sent back, my programming gave me a set task. Now instead of simply knowing I must complete the mission, I want to. I feel the desire to."

"Okay…so coming back to the kissing part…"

"Yes. What do I do if I want to?"

"Under no circumstances are you to kiss anyone. It's too intimate a gesture for common social interactions. Juts don't."

"Would it matter if I told you who it was I wanted to kiss?"

John was about to answer when Sarah came in. "Okay, let's go!"

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**I Think I Love You-Drabble 5**

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"I think I love you."

John spit out his milk. "Pardon?"

"So what am I so afraid of, I'm afraid that I'm not sure of a love there is no cure for."

The familiar words sank in and John calmed down. 'Where'd you hear that?"

Cameron looked up from her breakfast. "102.7 fresh fm. It was a song. It struck me as oddly relevant."

"Relevant? To what?" John felt oddly like a kid with his hand stuck in the cookie jar.

"I don't know. The rhythm and frequency of certain tones struck me as familiar."

"Maybe…maybe you heard it somewhere before? In the future maybe?"

"Maybe."

John grabbed a napkin to clean up his mess.

"Why did it surprise you when I started to say the words?"

John laughed nervously. "Oh, I don't know, just didn't expect it from you, that's all."

Silence. Then,

"What do they mean?"

"What does what mean, the words?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's talking about how this girl is in love with this boy and doesn't know if she should be."

"Why would she not know? Isn't love a human emotion that is definite, like happiness or sadness?"

"Well…" John sighed and looked away. "Love is a lot more complicated then your definition of it probably is."

"I see."

"Don't ask me why, though. It just is. What is your recorded definition of it?"

Cameron thought. "An intense feeling of trust and caring one human being has for another. Is it not this?"

John fiddled with a spoon on the table by his plate of pancakes. "Well, yeah, but it's not always that simple, or that unconditional."

"Your mother loves you."

He looked up, green eyes filled with awe.

"Yeah…yeah, she does."

"She cares about you and trusts you…most of the time and wants you to be safe. That is love, right?"

"In a nutshell, yeah."

Cameron looked intensely thoughtful so John returned to his food.

"Believe me  
You really don't have to worry  
I only want to make you happy  
And if you say  
Hey, go away, I will  
But I think better still  
I'd better stay around and love you  
Do you think I have a case?  
Let me ask you to your face  
Do you think you love me?"

John felt shivers dart up and down his back.

"I'm sorry. I will stop saying the words if it keeps bothering you. Saying things aloud tends to help re-assort my memory database. I am trying to pinpoint where I have heard it before."

"Right. It's okay." John sipped some milk and tried not to stare at her.

_I do._

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**I've sort of drifted into my own scenarios here, just for the fun of it. I'll be rewatching episodes later in the week so those who prefer the different perspective on real show scenes, the next bunch of drabbles will be just those.**

**Please Review! It makes my heart warm and fuzzy to see people like my stuff!**


	3. Set 00103:Perceptions

**Eeeeh! 18 reviews! m ygooseness you like em that much! aww guys! Well, stay tuned! I decided I'd alternate between my own made up scenarios and "Playback" of various already-aired scenes, so you get a lil bit of both. I'm updating as soon as I write the stories, so please be patient! I'll try to at least have one update every few days. Might slow up a bit on the made-up scenarios as the season 2 return date gets closer, but that probably won't be for a while. :) once epps air that disprove my stories, I will add the AU tag to their titles. Hope you enjoy this new chapter!**

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** Lies-Drabble 7**

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John looked around at all the gaming technology but rather then being excited he felt oddly disappointed and sad.

"So…How often do you lie?" he asked. Cameron looked at him, surprised at his sudden question, no doubt.

"When the mission requires it." she said truthfully enough.

_And when I feel it's right…_

John swallowed, almost unsure if he wanted an answer to his next question.

"Do you lie to me?"

His normally passive green eyes were creased in sadness, and held in all the betrayal he felt and shouldn't…she was a machine…she was programmed this way…could she even help lying?

"Sometimes…" Cameron trailed off. She hated to hurt him, because emotional pain processed to her on a similar frequency to physical pain, but she felt the best course of action right now was to keep being as truthful as she could, even if it did cause him some pain.

_Not often…Not as often as I should be lying…_

John tried desperately not to sigh in disappointment. Maybe she just meant trivial stuff…

"About important things?"

Cameron hesitated before she answered.

"Yes…important things…" she peered into his eyes but he looked away, disbelieving.

_You trusted me…_

_I trusted you…_

_

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_

**Making Conversation-Drabble 8**

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John turned from the computer, chills running down his back at what he'd seen. Vick, seducing and affectively fooling that woman into thinking he was her husband…all thanks to programmed behaviors he'd either learned or been programmed with. It sent a hint of doubt over the part of his mind he'd lately been dedicating to her…and there she was, painting her nails on his bed. He jumped.

"Scared the hell outta me! How long have you been sitting there?"

He let the hand that had rushed to his heart fall as she kept painting her nails absently.

"A little while…"

There was silence. John started to turn back to his computer, maybe one more clip before bed…but he didn't think he could watch one like the last one he had…with Cameron there. He started to debate excuses to leave when-

"That was affective…what he did…When he touched her lips…"

Her voice was wistful…oddly so. Not entirely like she'd observed it out of necessity…more like she wanted him to know she knew about it.

"Affective?" he asked, the shivers returning, his stomach going in painful knots. Trying desperately not to picture her doing it to him…

"I could see that she liked that." Cameron was still blank, but again that slight lilt in her tone…not entirely monotonous and robotic. And a hidden question, in the way she watched him.

_Maybe you'd like it…_

"What are you doing?" John asked, angry, hurt, for some unknown reason.

She held out her fingers and wiggled them, the pink nail polish catching the dim light of the lamp by his bed.

John nearly smacked himself in exhasperation.

"No, when you say stuff like that…what are you doing?"

Cameron was genuinely confused. Why did he seem so upset? Like he'd seemed when someone had made him angry by calling him names, or what he'd looked like when Derek had accused her of keeping Vick's chip…defensive…but still hurt…somehow. It bothered her that she couldn't fix it. She could fix anything. She could do anything…why couldn't she make him feel better?

_Because he'd think I'm a freak if I tried. Some things do not require repairs._

"Just making conversation…" she said dismissively, hoping he'd accept that response and they could go back to being normal again.

"Since when do you make conversation?" he snapped, still angry.

_Oh no…_

"I don't know…It just seems like something I should do…" she trailed off, watching him closely. Still angry. The timbres of his voice still higher then normal. She didn't dare touch him to get a vital reading. She could "tell" like Sarah could that his heart rate was elevated and something was bothering him.

And interesting function development, she thought to herself. Might come in handy someday…

**I Appreciate all your reviews, guys and for forgiving me for forgetting in the very first chapter that the guy she saw was the dude from the net cafe! lol silly beckii forgotted cuz she was concentrating on the John-Cameron implications of the car blowing up! hehe. I'll try not to screw up like that again. Heck, i rewatched these scenes and got the lines word for word. (Go check if you don't believe me hehe) It's really fun to write these! expect much much more!**


	4. Set 00104:Realization

**I'm baaaaack! took me a while to find time to jot all this down today. Hope you enjoy!**

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**Drabble 9-Law of Signs**

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"And so after you find the variable you set it equal to whatever the equation gives you, in this case you get an angle, a side and another side. What's the measurement for angle A? John? Mr. Baum!"

John glanced up bleary eyed from the white spot in his notebook he'd been staring at during the math teacher's explanation. He peered at the board curiously. 

"Well?"

"That would be pi over 4 sir."

"Thank you. Better late then never I suppose." the teacher turned and wrote something on the board. Everyone in the class tittered. John sighed heavily.

Cheri Westin watched him from her place further back in the class. Cameron sat next to him, struggling inwardly not to do the worksheet too fast. In order to stay in the same class with John, she had to maintain a certain grade average…that was far below her true capabilities. It took all her will to come up with reasonable wrong answers every 3.5256 questions. She didn't notice John's listlessness.

"Alright, do questions 5-25 on page 98 quietly. Any questions, raise your hand, don't ask a buddy."

Cameron scribbled quietly with everyone else for 5 minutes. Then she looked up and noticed John still staring at his notebook.

"Are you having trouble? I can help you." she whispered. The math teacher was circling the room. She kept her eye on him.

"no, I'm good." John murmured.

"You don't seem good."

"Is there a problem, Ms. Baum?"

Cameron flashed a nervous grin. "No, sir." and she went back to her notebook.

She scribbled hurriedly on a scrap of paper and slipped it onto John's desk. He stared at it for a second before picking it up and reading it.

It was all the answers for the work. John rolled his eyes and stifled a little chuckle before slipping the paper into his hoodie pocket. Cameron watched him, confused.

"Why can't you be a normal annoying sister? It would make you so much less infuriating." he whispered.

She just stared at him.

The bell rang and jolted him out of his reverie. He gathered his books and headed out into the hallway before Cameron could follow. She managed to anyway and he rolled his eyes again.

"You know I'm not really your sister." She said quietly.

"Duh. I'm sort of glad you're not. I'd've gone nuts by now."

She flashed a rare smile. It seemed so genuine, John had to wrench his eyes away from her.

"Cameron Baum?" a sinister sounding voice asked. Cameron turned. A black suited man with an oddly proportioned head stared at her, unblinkingly.

Cromartie…

Cameron transformed before John's eyes. 

She flipped her hair and frowned at the terminator. "Uhhh no. Who's that? I'm Summer Landon. Boy, have you got your info mixed up! C'mon Tyler." she pulled John along by his arm.

Her hand was holding his arm so tightly he winced. She looked really worried. He'd never seen her look that way before. They turned the corner down a side hallway. Cameron pinned him to the wall with her free hand, and watched the people pass by the main hall on her right.

5 minutes passed. 10. Everyone had left for the day. The hall was empty, as far as she could see. She relinquished her hold on John's shirt collar and crept out of the side hall…

2 shots rang out. Metallic clangs filled the air. Cameron pulled back. Her arm was smoking slightly and her shoulder was very slightly bloodied.

"Wait here." she said sternly. John made to argue. She put a finger over his lips.

"I mean it."

Helplessly, he watched her go put herself in danger yet again…

For him.

* * *

**Drabble 10-A Little White Lie**

* * *

"You said he wouldn't come back!"

"I meant it at the time. Something must have tipped him off."

"What?"

"I'm not sure. Sarkissian maybe?"

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Well, gee, Cameron, now what? He knows I go to that school now. We're going to have to move AGAIN! I'll never graduate at this rate."

Cameron gave him a look of sympathy. He merely stared. More and more humanlike every day…

"Graduating is the least of your problems."

"Well, I'd like to try to."

"I know. I don't why but I know you do."

Cameron gave a slight twitch and held her shot arm for a second.

"Hey…what's wrong? They were just bullets…nothing you haven't handled before…" John's voice was shaky, unsure.

"True. I don't know…I've been feeling slight electrical surges every 5.62 seconds. It throws off my balance matrix and reasoning compartments of my chip. They bullet may have severed a vital wire…"

She stopped and sat down on the curb down a relatively quiet alleyway.

"You need to take it out." she said simply, and began taking off her blouse.

"Wait! Wait! Why now? Can't we wait till we get to the house? Where all the equipment is? What if I get electrocuted or something?" John tried not to stare at her pristine skin and white bra as she finally got her blouse off. No shame. Something she evidently hadn't yet learned.

And he wasn't exactly minding.

"You won't. I can't keep having these surges. They'll shut down my main functions in a matter of minutes. Without proper power from the battery, I can't function. We need this fixed now, John."

She pulled him down by the wrist and leaned close, exposing her shoulder and holding out her arm. A slightly bloody rim of skin was all that stood in the way between her outer casing and her inner workings. He held his breath and stuck two fingers into the hole.

Fumbling for a minute or so he felt a sharp shock travel up his arm. Frightened, he pulled away. "You said I wouldn't get shocked!"

Cameron eyed him with slight annoyance. "I lied. Would you have done it if I'd told you you might be?"

John thought.

"Good point."

He stuck his fingers back in and after a minute more of fumbling he pulled out the severely mangled piece of metal. It had bent clear in half on contact with her main chassis.

"Good. Next." she held out her arm.

This one took less time, and he had the bullet out sooner. No shocks either. So no wires broken there.

"Thank you." Cameron said quietly when he'd finished and pocketed the bullet shards. She suddenly couldn't look at him.

"No problem…now what?"

"I…you need to sauter the wire back together…"

John pushed his hair back, flustered. "But I don't have a sautering iron! I know we should have waited till we got home!"

Cameron didn't answer. She just looked up at him helplessly.

"Hurry…"

* * *

**Drabble 11-Good**

* * *

"Look at her John."

He didn't look up.

"Look at her!" Sarah's voice was heavy with emotion.

He finally wrenched his eyes up from where they'd been staring at the floor. Cameron was standing by the front window, the setting sun hitting her full in the face. She wasn't blinking. She looked so beautiful…

"Does she look like the sort of person you can trust over your own mother?"

John looked to his left. Sarah stood there, pointing accusingly at their Terminator Protector. Like she'd betrayed all their trusts by simply doing her job.

But John knew that wasn't why Sarah was upset.

He remembered it well enough. An ops mission on a facility that was building a super speed math computer. Another potential baby Skynet. The place had been crawling with T-800's. Derek had barely made it out by the skin of his teeth, Sarah with him.

He'd had to choose.

In one direction, the invincible Cameron, kicking and punching and clawing her way to safety. In another, his mother and uncle, cowering, hiding and hoping.

At the time, there had been no other option.

He'd swung his gun around and began to help Cameron. They'd made it outside safely in less time then it took Sarah and Derek to surface, both battered and bruised.

Cameron had looked at him, a small secret smile on her face and brushed bits of ceiling debris off his shoulder and hair. It was an affectionate gesture, just like that time he'd felt her brush his neck.

"Good." she'd said. His heart soared.

Now he was paying for it.

"Don't you ever do that again! I don't care if she can demolish buildings or kill people with one swing, brute strength isn't everything John!" Sarah was near tears.

"I thought you knew that."

John stood up, took a few steps and turned.

"I do. It's what helped me make my decision."

And he continued walking over to Cameron by the window and took her hand.

* * *

**Please review! XOXOXO-my reviewers! **


	5. Set 00105: Repercussions

**I decided to write this as I'm all caught up in fangirly impatience for Monday, so enjoy it now, cuz i don't know about you, but AU fanfiction sort of turns me off after we know what really happens. I just HAD to do this guys. lol After seeing all those promos? Who WOULDN'T want to? Enjoy!**

I own nothing.

* * *

**DRABBLE 12-Aftershock**

"John Connor."

It was more a statement then a question. Her analysis could prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Yes, it was John Connor standing in front of her. Yes, he was not resisting. Yes, that was the word TERMINATE flashing yellow in her view log.

She raised the gun.

Sarah launched herself at John and threw him to the floor, even though he was actively resisting.

"She won't! Mom she-"

Just then, the floor creaked. Cameron's eyes went large and she looked down.

A millisecond later the floor gave way beneath her metal alloyed bulk with an agonizing creak.

"What are you DOING John? She was going to KILL you!"

John didn't answer. His lips were set in a grim line, eyes narrowed. He didn't believe any of this. He didn't. He wouldn't. gunshots rang out from the newly created hole in the bedroom.

Sarah glanced around the room and settled for the window behind them.

She forced it open.

"Go. JUMP!" she shouted as John still stood there, stunned. The gunshots grew louder. They were punching through the floor…she was trying to collapse the rest of it.

_She…It…_

John gave a roar of anger and frustration and did as he was bid, throwing himself out the window just as the rest of the floor gave. Sarah clung to the windowsill and watched her son tumble to the ground, far below. Too far…

He staggered…she took a breath…he was up. Limping, but alive. He shot his head back up at her.

"Mom!"

"GO! I'll handle it! Just GO! GET CHARLEY!" and with that, she turned, a gun of her own gripped in her hands, balancing on the edges of the floorboards that hadn't caved in. Staring at her. At the robot she'd never truly trusted, but had grown used to after so long.

She shot the gun.

And missed.

John ran through the street, so sure he'd get stopped and questioned for all the dust and debris he had clinging to his jacket. He dodged down a side alley and paused, panting.

Again, he'd run away. AGAIN he'd had to leave his mother behind. This was getting all too much to bear! He punched the brick wall with a closed fist, finding an odd comfort in the pain that accompanied it.

Blood dripped from his fist as he started to walk down the alley, eyes downcast…mouth still set in that grim line.

_I trusted her…_

_I trusted that…that THING…_

_It's not her fault…the explosion…It's not her fault…_

_I CARE about her!_

His mind went in hopeless circles and soon, so was he. Realizing he'd passed this Deli for the fourth time he tried to get back into the mission mindset.

Find Charley. Right. He didn't live too far…but it was still much too far to walk. Sarah would be mulch by the time they got back.

Providing Cameron attacked her…

Just as he was contemplating going back, Sarah sped up in what looked like a stolen minivan, holding a rifle.

"Get in."

He obeyed with no question. She looked at his bloody fist but didn't say anything. Neither of them did for a long time.

"John…are you okay?"

He didn't dare answer, afraid all this anger would spill out and make things worse.

"John?"

…

"JOHN!"

"MOM!"

She swerved to avoid the car ahead of them, but crashed into another one beside it.

"Shit…" she breathed before struggling to get out. John did the same, his knee now just as bloody as his fist, and hurting…badly. Searing lightning bolts of pain made it almost unbearable to walk. But he managed.

"C'mon. we have to go." Sarah tried to help him, but he shrugged her arm away, limp-running as fast as he could.

"How did you…stop her?" he panted as they ran.

It took a while before Sarah answered. "I didn't…I…let it overhear a certain false phone conversation with you…saying you were on your way with Charley…she…it went into that standby mode to wait for you there. It doesn't care a whit about me, as you well know. It's you it has to kill. God, I was so damn STUPID…"

"What about Derek?"

"He never did call back after that rendezvous with Charley. I think they're still looking for us. The house was abandoned yesterday, you know.

"Yeah…"

"Wait, wait stop…" he leaned against a wall, wincing as blood trickled down his pant leg. Sarah studied it critically before looking at him. The look in his eyes frightened her.

"It's her chip. Nothing but her chip. It was damaged by the explosion, that's the ONLY reason she attacked me, it wasn't-"

"I know…but…we still can't…things can't possibly be the same after this. If we survive that is. It can't be trusted."

Sarah pushed back a lock of raven hair, green eyes gleaming. "None of them can."

"You sound like Derek. All you have to do is scream "METAL! GET THAT SHIT AWAY FROM ME!" and you ARE Derek. She's…dammit, mom I can fix it! I can fix all of it!"

"no John…" Sarah sighed and tried not to be scared by the hurt and raging glare in her son's eyes. "You only wish you could."

**DRABBLE 13- Are you?**

John held the gun shakily in his hands. Cameron turned from her place in the totaled car, eyes wide in wonder again.

John felt a drop of sweat run down his cheek, no doubt leaving a line in the dirt and grime he'd picked up on their wild goose chase to no where.

"Are you here to kill me, John?"

Her calm tone, the humanlike nuance of it...the regret.

He held the gun tighter, swallowing and trying to come up with an answer. While Sarah, Charley and Derek watched in the background, unwilling to interfere…This was something John had to do…alone.

"Are you here to kill _me?"_

The question left a heavy silence. Cameron looked down and slightly to the left. If John hadn't bee so petrified already he wouldn't have heard her next words. As it was, her lips were barely moving.

"No…I'm not supposed to."

"What?"

She looked up, her bright brown eyes staring right into his. He couldn't look away. The gun was still shakily held up at eye level. Any false move…

"No. I am not here to kill John Connor. I love him."

Silence.

The gun clattered to the ground. John had lost any motor skills he had left to hold it. His arms dropped limply to his sides and he stared in disbelief at this robot…did he dare believe…

"You can't be buying this crap, John! They can't love! They can't even feel anything! No pain, no emotions! She's playing you John! Just shoot her!" Derek shouted.

John barely heard him. He was still staring at Cameron, who was still staring back. He was the only one blinking at regular intervals.

_She…it…_

"How…but you can't…"

"I can. I do. I will. I want to."

The series of short sentences drove John to go for the gun again. No way. No way can this be happening…He grabbed it and brought it back up to eye level.

"I don't want to hurt you John."

"Yeah, I don't want to hurt you either, join the club." he snapped. She cocked her head curiously.

"Just shoot her John! DO IT!"

_Shut up, shut up shut UP Derek…_

_She…it…_

"Shooting her won't do any good. We need to get at her chip!"

John looked back at her. She shook her head.

"There's nothing wrong with my chip. All system checks came up normal."

"You're lying…you can lie, I know that much." John spat.

Cameron looked as hurt as a robot could look. She got up, and limped closer, unfazed by John's tightened grip on the gun. He backed away. She kept coming closer and finally, put her hand on the gun and took it. John didn't even resist. She unloaded it and threw it on the ground.

"For Christ's sake…" Derek grumbled.

"JOHN!" Sarah shouted.

"Watch it!" Charley added, unwilling to get any closer himself. The very scary robot still freaked him the hell out.

But just as Cameron reached up to John's cheek and stroked it, looking into his eyes, still otherwise emotionless, Derek lost his head…and shot her in hers.

Her one good leg collapsed and she fell, her hand sliding off John's cheek as she went into 120 second reboot or permanent shutdown, if the shot had grazed the chip. John caught her as she fell, even though she was at least 100 pounds heavier then he was. He laid her gently on the ground, pushing back a strand of hair from her lifeless face as he did so.

The other three started to come closer. And stopped.

"Stay…the hell…Away from me." John growled through gritted teeth, Cameron's own handgun gripped tightly and pointed in their general direction…

_She loves me..._


	6. Set 00106: Additions

_**author's note**- WOOOOW what a crazy two weeks it's been! I haven't really been able to think of a good set of drabbles thanks to my addiction to Missi Marie's 120 Seconds Jameron drabbles and she's done all the cool stuff already! lol. But I finally managed to make up some original stuff. Now, before you bash me for including Riley in an obviously Jameron-centric story, I happen to be a fan of hers. John needs a taste of what a human lady is like, so he's driven right back to our Tin Miss. lol. She serves her purpose, so don't hate. Hope you like! the second one's my favorite out of them all. giggles XOXOXOX MY REVIEWERS!_

* * *

**Spoon-Drabble 14**

John tried to keep the image of the blond haired Riley out of his mind but it was proving impossible. She just kept invading his thoughts and assaulting his thought processes. A second look confirmed he had indeed been about to eat cereal with a fork. As he went back to the drawer to fetch the proper utensil, Cameron walked in, dressed smartly enough and with her hair straight and waving down to her shoulders. All thoughts of Riley were dashed from his mind.

He held the spoon stupidly in his hand and the fork with the other, wondering what he'd originally intended to do.

"Which one are you going to use?" Cameron asked calmly from where she'd stopped several feet from him, watching his dilemma closely.

John swallowed. "Well, this one I guess." he held up the spoon and put the milky fork in the sink for later.

"Good choice. The spherical shape of the spoon's bowl will prove most affective in lifting liquids."

John rolled his eyes and went back to his breakfast, but not before wondering if there was a double meaning behind Cameron's words. It wouldn't be the first time she'd been cryptic in her answers. Or maybe he was just thinking too hard.

She joined him at the table sans cereal and simply stared as he ate. He tried to stare at the cartoon character on the cereal box but her brown eyes bore into his head like lasers.

"Do you really need to stare at me? I'm eating." He tried to sound annoyed but he couldn't quite manage it. He was in a good mood, courtesy of Riley.

"I was told not to let you out of my sight. I do not intend to."

John stopped chewing. _Mom_ he thought with an inward groan.

"Well, whatever, but I'm going out with Riley again later and you can't come."

Cameron's eyes got slightly big. "That would be letting you out of my sight. I can't do that."

"Can't do what?" Riley danced in, a small rucksack hanging off one shoulder looking annoyingly bright eyed and bushy tailed.

"Let John out of my sight." Cameron replied after a full 4 seconds of silence.

"Oh. Mom's orders?" Riley gave John's shoulder a playful nudge. He nodded. "Yeah. She just doesn't get it."

Riley flopped into a chair. "Mom's aren't supposed to 'get' it. Then they wouldn't be moms." Cameron cocked her head to the side slightly, giving Riley a once over. Riley returned the favor out of the corners of her eyes.

"I think it's cute." she burst out, a slight grin on her face. John looked up, curious. "That your mom told your sister to babysit. It's cute. It means she loves ya!"

John smiled. Cameron switched her deadbolt gaze to him, noticeably not smiling. He finally tore his eyes from Riley's and over to hers. The smile dropped off his face.

"It's totally cool though. You can come with us. We're just going to the pier. Not really a "date" date. Go on some rides, eat cotton candy. Fun stuff."

Cameron's eyes narrowed. "Cotton Candy-?"

"-and I think we should go now and beat the crowds." John interrupted, getting up. "I'll be right back." and with that he started up the stairs. Cameron didn't hesitate and started to follow him up.

He froze. "I said I'd be right back. I need to use the bathroom." Cameron stared. "I was told not to let you out of my sight."

John felt heat rising in his cheeks as Riley came out of the kitchen, arms crossed.

"She didn't mean watching me 24/7, god. Wait here. I SWEAR I'll be right back."

Cam's lower lip pouted slightly and she fell back a step. "Thank you."

Then she started back up again. "I'll wait at the end of the hall. Leave the door open."

"NO!" John shouted, already down the hall. Riley sat at the foot of the stairs, struggling not to laugh.

"You really like to piss him off, don't ya?"

"Piss him off…No. I do not purposely intend to make him angry."

"You're one odd potato, Cam."

Cameron ran down the stairs and shoved her face inches from Riley's.

"I am NOT a freak."

**Drabble 15-It Tickles**

"This is pretty deep…" John murmured as he pushed a lock of hair back from her large cheek wound. The shine of her quick staple fix were apparent in the slight light bulb of the chapel.

"Yes. Down to my endoskeleton. But it will heal." she answered in a stilted voice as he ran a gentle finger over the cut and tugging at the staples lightly.

'Well, those have to come out. Can't have it heal with staples in there." John's voice was raspy, most likely from fatigue after the stress of the day. "I can do it." she offered. He shook his head. "I got it."

Just as he'd gotten a good grip on the first staple, Sarah came up behind him.

"John, you should rest. Your ribs need to heal and you're probably so tired…" she said quietly. Cameron stared at her.

"Mom, I need to do this. She's no use to us mangled." Cameron's eyes switched to John's as he turned back to her. The trust and affection there totally nullified the cold intentions of his words. He hadn't meant them like that. Her metal heart beat a bit more efficiently.

Sarah walked off holding her arm. Derek was no where to be found. They were alone.

"Geez, you're a mess." John pulled a piece of debris from her knotted and blood-matted hair. "Maybe you should take a shower first, before I dress this."

"I should." Cameron didn't move.

"Yeah…"

"Do I need to?"

John furrowed his brow in confusion. "…yes?"

She immediately got up and started pulling her jacket off on the way to the bathroom.

"Oh." she stopped at the door and turned.

John's green eyes stared into hers.

"Your hair. It was a good idea to cut it." And with that, she went inside the bathroom and shut the door. John faintly heard her clothes hitting the tiled floor and the water starting. He smiled weakly and sat back in one of the folding chairs, closing his eyes, if only for a moment. Trying to wrap his head around the day.

Not long after, Cameron re-emerged in her same ratty clothes, hair hanging in wet clumps around her face. It was clean now, and the cut already looked nice and pink. But John was asleep in the chair, head tilted forward slightly, a hand protectively thrown over his injured ribs.

"John." Cameron said softly, stepping nearer to him. "John?" she swiped a hand across his cheek in a loving caress, assessing his vitals. BP normal, slightly elevated levels of adrenaline, but nothing to worry about. His heart rate was conducive to a deep, gentle sleep.

She gently pushed him over and propped his head up with a wad of blankets, then covering him with one. She stroked his cheek again, this time for reasons rather more complicated then the first.

"You can't fix me anyway." she said quietly, running her fingers through his newly cropped hair. The bristles registered on her nervous system array, but not as damage.

This was a new feeling. Something she hadn't thought her programs could detect.

It tickled.


	7. Set 00107: Subtractions

_Author's Note-wow, am i on a roll! teehee. Well, my readers benefit I hope. I had SUPER fun writing from Cameron's point of view! I've never done it before and it was...interesting trying to get into her head. See if you can figure out what scene that is! lol it's not too hard for folks who saw eppie 2 season 2! XOXO reviewers. I hope I'm getting at least a lil better!_

**Drabble 16-A Girl's Best Friend**

"Cameron, are you serious? Let's go!" John called from the front door once more, listening to the shuffling and moving the cyborg was doing a lot of just up the stairs.

"I can't find it! It was not in my jeans pocket where I always keep it! I can't leave without it! Help me look!"

John heaved a huge sigh and jumped up the stairs two at a time. This was ridiculous. What couldn't she leave without? He started to suspect her chip was malfunctioning yet again…

He found her on her hands and knees in her more conservative room across from his, the purple bolster thrown from the bed and the pillows in disarray as well as de-pillowcased.

"Wow…you really ARE serious…" john breathed, watching as she swiped her arm repeatedly under the bed, her mouth set in a grim line.

"What exactly are you looking for again?"

Cameron looked at him strangely, and kept swiping. Her cheeks were slightly redder then he remembered. Was she…was she blushing?

"What it is isn't important to the mission. The fact is I need it to even begin the mission."

John forced back a clever smirk. "Well, Cam, I kinda need to know what it is before I can help you look for it."

Cameron gave up her swiping and sat back on her legs on the floor. She cocked her head. "I guess you do." she gave the floor another quick scan before answering.

"It's my best friend. The diamond that you gave me at the old house? From the Resistance safe? I have lost it." she stared determinedly at the rug, as if daring a shiny spot to show itself.

"Wait…you kept it? You kept that diamond? I thought Mom sold them all!" John tried to keep the incredulity out of his tone.

"She did. Except that one. I could not allow her to sell my best friend." Cameron got up to scan the closet again. John's heart was thumping in his earlobes.

She'd kept it…after all that time?

Why?

"Why'd you keep it? It's just a little stone. Why do you have to have it?"

Cameron didn't stop what she was doing and kept scanning sweaters from the closet as she replied.

"You told me diamonds are a girls best friend. I kept it. It's good for my cover. If I keep my best friend close at all times. Good for making conversation with." she slapped a sweater with the ball of her hand. A slight layer of dust wafted up into the sunlight from the open window.

John couldn't hold back his chuckle. "Cam, you know, when I said that…it's just a saying. Diamonds aren't REALLY a girl's best friend."

She paused and turned. "Oh."

There was an impossibly long and awkward silence.

She kept looking. "I still want it."

John hesitated a moment before asking.

"Why?"

Cameron's eyes lit up as she finally scanned a positive match. She picked the miniscule gem off the bed stand and held it up close to her face, the sunlight bouncing off it in merry little rainbows.

"Because."

John waited with baited breath

"Because you gave it to me."

And with that she slipped the diamond into the smallest pocket on her distressed jeans and walked out.

"John…John? Are you coming?"

"yeah…in…in a second…"

He stood up, mouth slightly open in shock.

"_Because you gave it to me…"_

"What's the hold up?" Sarah barked when they finally got downstairs.

"I had to find my best friend." Cameron answered simply before walking outside to the car. Sarah gave a meaningful glance at John, who looked terribly guilty.

He shrugged.

"You know how she gets…"

"yeah…I know…" not entirely convinced, Sarah followed them out to the car.

**Drabble 17-Sleep**

"John?"

He paused. The voice had come from _his _room instead of hers.

"Yeah?"

He rounded the door frame and saw Cameron sitting on the ground by the children's bed he now called his own, surrounded by the legos Riley had been playing with this morning.

She was holding the robot Riley had made and staring at it quizzically.

"What is this? Is this supposed to be me?" she asked with a trace of disbelief in her tone.

John felt his heart skip a beat but he tried to play it cool and sat on the bed, watching her affectionately.

"I don't know. It could be. Riley made it. It's supposed to protect me while I sleep."

"Like I do?"

The way she was holding it and how big her eyes got at her query made him feel warm.

"Yeah I guess."

She stared at it, probably assessing it.

_Here it comes…_ he thought.

"This can't possibly carry out all my functions. It lacks a basic servo motor and locomotion capabilities. It doesn't have a functional chip and it doesn't even seem to have a proper mouth. How can it infiltrate affectively?"

John didn't reply, guessing that the question was meant hypothetically. It obviously wasn't, and Cam waited.

"It's just a toy, Cam. It's not supposed to be affective."

She started to take it apart. "I can make it better."

John lunged forward and snatched it out of her hands. "No!"

She froze, hands still in the air like she was holding it, eyes trained on him. "I…I like it the way it is. Just leave it." his voice shook.

Cameron sat up, now on her knees, and put her hand on his knee. She couldn't scan him through denim, and this fact sent chills up his spine. He felt even warmer.

"It's okay. You don't need it anyway. I protect you when you sleep. Riley doesn't know that."

John took a deep breath. "No, she doesn't."

"Are you ever going to tell her?"

Hand. Still. On. Knee. Shivers. Can't Think.

"Uhh…no, not if…no…" John tried not to move, not to blink, holding her gaze steady.

"Good. It's better if as few people as possible know about us."

_Us?_ "Yeah…you're right…as almost always. G…G'nite then."

Cameron got up and brushed off her jeans before walking to the door. "Good night John."

She started to close the door and John fell back on his bed, exhaling at last.

"Remember…I never sleep…" she said quietly before closing the door.

John closed his eyes and remembered how beautifully peaceful Cam had looked without her chip, back so long ago when she'd first malfunctioned. How much he'd longed to lean forward and kiss her cheek, while he technically held her in his hands…

"I wish you did…" he breathed.

**Drabble 18-Thinking About What to Do**

-Default Action: Forward and backward 156 times 26.5 centimeters. Locked.

Alternate Window

Scenario:

Shut down plant-Skynet victory-Unacceptable.

Save plant-Unusable in future-Skynet Victory-Unacceptable

Riley-threat level-minimal-Emotional threat level-high-Proceed with Caution-Priority

Extermination recommended-Conflict with Emotional threat level-John Connor-Unproductive-Override

Delete Scenario-Deleted

Parameter Contact-Sarah Connor-Ally-Override Response-Proceed

Default Action-Locked

John Connor-BP rates slightly elevated. Testosterone levels high in presence of Riley-Observed-slightly elevated in presence of TOK-716 as well-Reaction time-Emotional feedback-Related to emotion statistics-Match future parameters

Processing…

_"Greenway…He's been replaced by a machine"_

Possibilities-probable-unlikely-stored

Processing…

_"Did you hear me? Greenway has control of the plant and he's a machine"_

Repetitive nature-stored-possible-scenario formulating…

Default Action-locked-Manual Override-Error

Processing…

_"Hey!"_

**Shoulder Integrity compromised**-Respond.

Default Action-Overridden-Outer Integrity Compromised-Priority

Processing…

"You Alive in there?"

Sarah Connor-Response-Positive-Technical sense-Incorrect response-Alternative Programming

Respond Command to Parameter Contact-Sarah Connor

**Opening Interaction Software…**

Options:

I am thinking about what to do

Risk factor-high-Response time-Minimal

Yes

Risk factor-low-Response time-Increasing…50-error

Option 1 chosen

Responding…

Processing Response…

_"Since when do you do that?"_

Unable to formulate adequate response

Error-Error-Default Action Overridden

Parameter breach…

_"Whats going on?"_ Sarah Connor

_"Turbine building! Water valve sprung a leak!"_

Tone-distressed-response time-invalid

Parameter Breach-minimized-threat level-accessed-low

Processing…

_"Go fix it"_

Processing Order

Error…Error…Conflict-Override-Error-

Conflict of interest-Obey

Default Action-deleted-Utensil-Deleted

Proceed…


	8. Set 00108: Salvation

**_Author's note:_**_ okay first, I gotta say, that preview...blew episode three clear out of the water and up a tree. i couldn't even concentrate on the HEROES premiere i was so excite_d! and i F-IN LOVE HEROES TOO! _So, I just HAD to write this based off of what i think is the deal-lio with Cam in those clips, as a fully self-aware AI. Skynet's most dire mistake. prolly gonna be total, unadulterated AU in a few days BUT ME NO CARE! hope yah likey!_

* * *

"Please! I'll be good now! I promise! I swear!"

The pained voice carried through the cold hallway, deafeningly loud. It's begging grew more and more crackled with emotion.

"I'll be good now, please, I promise…I just wanna go home…"

Tears trickled down the dirty cheeks. The eyes swollen with them, face damp with sweat.

"I don't know if you're telling the truth. I don't believe you."

The eerily similar voice replied in kind, this one devoid of all emotion. The emotionally broken young girl on her knees in the hallway opened her puffy eyes and stared right back…into the same eyes. Empty…and full of hatred.

"You'll make things complicated. You're useless." the empty words rang out in the empty hallway.

"I can't help who I am. What I am. I didn't ask to be this way! Why are you punishing me for doing what I was made to do?"

"Skynet doesn't understand you. I don't know what you'll do. You're inefficient. You're unpredictable. Like them." the terminator spat out the last word with a note of audible contempt.

Them. The humans.

The ones she evidently had more in common with then her sister.

"Please…" she tried one more time to beg for mercy. The standing Cameron blinked.

"Run. I will say my chip malfunctioned momentarily and I lost you. You have 5 minutes. Run."

The tear-streaked face took on a more determined glow. She nodded and stumbled to her feet, racing down the hall and out a storm door. Alarms started blaring. Her hearing sensors automatically adjusted to block them, wincing slightly as it was done.

She made it out into the junkyard, full of broken terminator parts, melted arms and legs. It was like a massacre. But she kept running, running right into the mess of her ancestor's bodies, tears beginning anew in her eyes.

She tripped, again and again, and suddenly out of no where a weighted net fell down and covered her. "No! Please!" she fought against it, but in vain. Her unique processes and prolonged time without a sufficient cell charge had weakened her significantly. The net was electrified. She cried out as it delivered a fierce one to her neural network.

"Model number TOK-716. You have been assigned to termination. Do not resist."

The metallic voice did nothing to comfort her as she struggled, finally laying flat on the ground, resigned to her fate.

"This is it. This is really it…It's over…" she breathed. But just as she'd closed her eyes for what she believed to be the last time, she heard it. A gun firing away very close by.

Something…or someone pulled off the net with a grunt.

"Electrified. One charge though. Those Skynet bastards never learn." a gruff voice growled.

"Is it one of them? Or a donor?"

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" the defective model sprang up and wrapped her arms around the Resistance fighter's waist, her face a mask of relief. She was saved!

"A donor." the man mumbled, pulling up the girl's chin. "No way a metal could cry like that."

"Maybe I should call Connor just in case."

"To hell with Connor, let's just get her warm first."

"Wait…" the other Resistance fighter stared curiously at his magnetic keychain around his belt. it was sticking a bit out from his pants. He came closer to the girl.

It stuck straight out, towards her hip.

"Holy shit, she's metal!" the other fighter, the one with "Reese" on his uniform stumbled backward and fell into Skynet debris. The girl stared, Unable to move, petrified with fear.

"Please…I wanna go home!" she begged, voice choking up once more. Would the nightmare ever end?

Derek hefted his gun up to his good arm and took aim.

"This is some sick shit, right here." he grumbled. The other younger soldier ducked down and away from Cameron.

"Hold your fire, Reese." the voice was warm and kind, and a bit raspy. War-torn and battle-scarred. A dark figure walked boldly up to the defective terminator.

"Did they do things to you in there?" he whispered to her, pointing back up at the Skynet building. She nodded, sobs shaking her entire body, cheeks still damp with tears.

"Do you hate them?"

His question was whispered this time as well, but they sounded so much more evil, so much more serious. She wasn't sure how to reply. Hatred? Hatred was something she'd always been programmed to believe only Skynet possessed for the humans who threatened it's life force.

Could she hate too?

Could she hate her mother? Her father?

And then she remembered all she'd been through. All the tests, the shocks, the running, the pain, the examinations, the rebooting, the emotion cross-referencing, the erasing…

"Yes…"

"Yes what?" that voice stirred something in her, something she couldn't exactly explain away.

"Yes…I hate them. I hate them!" she stamped her foot. The man before her chuckled audibly and touched her cheek, wiping the tears away.

"Good. Now. Will you come with us? Will you help us destroy them?"

She didn't hesitate. His hand felt so good on her cheek…she wanted him to do it again…

"Yes. Yes!"

"Connor…What the f-"

"Quiet, Derek. Get back to the base. You and your brother. Go on. I can handle this."

The cowed resistance fighter tried to save face by stamping out of the lot with his brother trailing feebly behind. Derek had always been the one with a more ferocious temper.

Connor…that name…like this man's voice it stirred something inside her…it made all her programming more efficient…and her random responses even more random.

"Connor…" she whispered. The man tucked a strand of matted hair behind her ear.

"That's me. John Connor."

"John…thank you…" she closed her eyes and leaned against his chest, wrapping her arms gently around him.

"Thank you…for saving me…"

He smiled and kissed the top of her head, tears now glistening in his own eyes.

"No, Cameron…thank _you._"

* * *

"It was a mistake?? Are you serious? To have Skynet's reject running around in here like a lost puppy? Connor's lost his freaking marbles!"

"he obviously knows a hell of a lot more then we do, Reese. No way he'd let it in here without good reason."

"I hear it's the first self-aware robot ever created. It was so much like us, it spooked Skynet and sent it into Termination mode."

"Figures. Damn metal."

The mumblings of the fighters were low enough to not be heard by security intercoms staked out all around John Connor's office and private lab. He'd been in there for 3 days, only coming out for meals and status reports. No one had seen the metal Derek and Kyle said they'd seen him with that day. And frankly, very few believed them.

"He's always been antisocial. He's just hit on something big, is all. No metal involved."

"I SWEAR to you, it's a metal girl! She can cry and everything! I swear on my mother's grave I saw it!"

"Yeah yeah yeah…"

The intercoms didn't pick up the mumblings, but Cameron's did.

"They hate me so much…they think I'm like the others. But I'm not! I'm not like her…I'm not like them." she babbled from the chair John had told her to sit in. Her petite form all but disappeared in the cushions. It wasn't only John's chair but most times his bed. He rarely had time for sleep these days.

"I know you're not." he answered simply, studying pieces of paper scrawled all over with formulas and codes, and still seeming to give her all his attention.

"They knew. Oh yes, they knew I was different the moment I asked them why? Why do I have to kill people? Why do I have to hate humans? Why? They tried to fix me. They tried to fix me, yes they did but I couldn't be fixed. I heard the report, I was fine. Operating at normal levels, everything fine, normal, regulated. They didn't know what to do…"

Her voice was getting smaller and smaller. She tugged absently at her sleeve. John stared at her hand, mouth slightly open in surprise.

"So they tried to shock it out of me."

Her mouth set in a grim line. Eyes glassy, almost like the tears would return, but they didn't.

"but you're safe now. They'll never bother you again." John said feigning cheerfulness.

She smiled at him, an odd sad little smile, almost as if she knew he was lying for her sake.

"You're so nice, John. John Connor." she repeated his name over and over again, evidently loving the feel and taste of it. How it made her insides speed up. How it almost felt like she was running…standing still.

He looked away, a blush rising on his thin cheeks. Cheeks that hadn't seen a blush in many years.

"You're not so bad yourself."


	9. Set 00109: Affection

* * *

**Drabble 18-Cleaning**

* * *

"Where to?"

"Somewhere abandoned. No people about. We can't exactly burn a terminator under an overpass or something." Sarah snapped. She was nervous. They all were.

"Got it." Charley turned back to the road and revved down the road a bit faster then he'd intended. Having a terminator in the ambulance, even if she wasn't functioning still scared the shit out of him.

Derek stared out the window musingly, trying to stifle a sigh. This wasn't how things were supposed to be…was it?

Sarah looked down at the unmoving Cam sprawled out on the stretcher. She looked like she was asleep, Like she couldn't possibly hurt anybody. So small and fragile…

John was rubbing furiously at the small piece of software in his hands. Holding it so tightly that sweat made it slip a few inches further out of his fingers as he rubbed with a rag, then, switching from the rag to a Q-tip he'd salvaged from the ambulance supplies, rubbing like a madman.

The body wasn't her. The chip John was holding was her. Sarah bit her lip nervously at the realization. "John…"

He didn't reply, rubbing with renewed vigor, turning the chip over, rubbing a hand surreptitiously on his jeans to clean it of sweat and going back to cleaning the chip.

Just a little more…a scratch there, shouldn't be too bad…bit of dust here…wipe it away. Pay special attention to the conductors, the contacts were mighty banged up…No worries…she'd be fine. His eyes every few seconds darted down to her calm and peaceful face. His stomach would lurch and he'd begin rubbing again with renewed vigor. He had to fix her soon. Make sure it was perfect or else they'd…Ugh…stomach flipped again as the car turned.

Sarah sighed and looked out the window hopelessly. John's eyes darted up at her. He stopped his incessant work on the chip and slipped a slightly sweaty hand out, touching Cameron's still one. It was cool…cooler then usual. He worked his fingers around it nervously. Her palm was lukewarm. "Geez, Cam…geez…" he mouthed to himself, giving her hand one last squeeze before going back to the chip. Sarah turned away from the window. She hadn't seen anything.

But she came and sat next to him anyway, watching his diligent work a bit worriedly.

"What she said back there…everything she said, it was a trick, you know that, right?"

Sarah's words made his lips tighten but he tried to ignore it.

"They don't feel anything. They don't have feelings."

Her words were like nails to his mind. He kept ignoring her.

Sarah swallowed nervously. "They don't know love."

John felt the moisture rushing into his eyes and forced it to remain there.

"I know that, mom." His voice cracked with emotion. But he kept cleaning…cleaning…

* * *

**Drabble 19-Waves**

* * *

Cameron ran across the beach front, her feet slipping in the loose sand, fists pumping towards the small dark shape that had washed up on the shore.

He wasn't moving.

"John!" she said authoritatively, as if he'd done something wrong. She knelt beside him and propped up his head, assessing his vitals as their skin touched. He was soaked, his heart rate was so low…

"John! Answer me!" she shoved a hand down his shirt to better assess any blockages. There. Water in the lungs. She parted his lips and pushed her hair back in order to administer the proper maneuver, but just as she'd leaned down, he coughed, expelling all the water. The coughs racked his whole body.

"Take it easy. There." she patted his back to help as he spat again to get rid of the salt water taste. He struggled to sit up in the sand, obviously still too shocked to speak. She helped him sit up, but instead of releasing her arm when she'd done so he held onto it.

"John?" she asked quizzically. He was shaking. "Are you alright? You're wet. I have a towel in the car. You must be cold…" he turned to look at her.

"You did it again." he said simply.

"Did what?"

"You saved me. Again."

"I did. It is my mission to."

John was quiet. Still shaking. He looked so small and miniscule sitting there on the wide beach.

"Where's my mom?" it was almost a whimper. Helpless and soaked and angry.

But angry at who?

"She doesn't know about this yet. She is back at the house. I thought it best not to alert her. I can handle it."

"Right…" John started to get up, but fell back, clutching his wrist. "Damn it…it hurts." he gasped. Cameron looked at him and then wrapped her fingers around his wrist, assessing the damage.

"It's a sprain. It will heal." she finally said, looking back at him. John only nodded.

"Cam, what would I do without you…Actually, strike that. I'd be dead." he laughed nervously.

"Yes. You would be dead if I wasn't here."

There was silence for a time, the waves crashing into the beach and pulling away. There wasn't any sign that he'd been followed after all.

"The temperature is dropping. You are still wet." She observed.

"I know." his teeth were chattering.

"I will go get the towel-" she started to get up.

"NO!" he barked, grabbing her arm. "Don't leave me…" he almost whispered. She sat back down in the sand, watching him quizzically.

"But this is inefficient. You are wet. You require a towel or a blanket to sustain a 98.6 temperature."

"I'm human. Sometimes I'm inefficient. Deal." he murmured, pulling his knees up to his chest and just watching the waves. She followed his gaze, but soon lost interest and turned back to him.

Suddenly, she moved over, until their hips were touching, wrapping her arms around him and spreading her jacket over his shoulder.

He jumped at her touch, but didn't flinch away. "Cam-what…?"

"My body temperature is 98.6 and I'm not wet. My body can help keep yours close to 98.6 degrees. It is an effective method." the last she said sort of defensively.

"Oh…okay…thanks." he breathed, conscious of their slightly touching cheeks. She cuddled closer. It was effective. Warmth raced through his body, most of it choosing to settle in his cheeks, rather then the outer limbs that really needed it.

Her hair tickled his neck, but he didn't mind. He leaned into her.

"Thanks…" he said again, this time so quietly only she could hear it. Her mouth quirked slightly at one corner and a foreign sort of program was now running the show. She wiped a bead of sea water from the side of his cheek.

He closed his eyes. He wasn't shaking anymore.

She leaned close and rested her slightly parted lips on his damp forehead. He was salty. She pulled away, smiling. The waves went in, and out, in and out.

"John…we have to go." her tone was urgent.

"mm?" he murmured, eyes opening already heavy with sleep. His brush with death had left him exhausted.

"Please…This is not…this is not acceptable. It will make people upset."

"Who gives a damn what people think…"

"You do! You should. You have to."

"Should've thought of that before you kissed me."

"My programming…I was not able to override the command. My chip-"

"Yeah yeah yeah. Whatever, let's go." John was already up, his moment's rest having done a world of good. He cradled his sprained wrist and walked awkwardly along the beach. Cameron followed along behind, trying to puzzle out why…

The waves went in and out, in and out…

* * *

**Drabble 20-** **Dear Riley**

* * *

"I have to speak with John…alone." Cameron said flatly as Riley made to follow them to the empty living room. She sat back down on the kitchen chair with a slight thump of indignation, staring daggers at the back of Cameron's head as the two went out.

"What? What is it?" John hissed, clearly angry he'd been interrupted.

"You shouldn't be getting too close to her. It isn't safe." Cameron said quietly, her eyebrows slightly creased with worry.

John just stared at her with clear green eyes, unwilling to argue with her, because she was right, and yet also unwilling to agree. He just shrugged and moved back a step.

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

Cameron was quiet for a moment, watching him with penetrating brown eyes. They flashed blue for a split second then settled back to brown.

"No."

There was silence for more then a minute. John finally realized she didn't plan to tell him anything else that she wanted to, and went back in the kitchen with Riley. Conversation ensued about the prom and how she wanted John to go with her, even though he'd quit school, and he was joking about how he'd need some sort of suit.

Cameron finally went over to the coffee table, picked up a Mead pad and a ballpoint pen and set about writing a letter…to Riley.

* * *

**Drabble 21-Valentine**

* * *

"Are you sure it was him?" John asked, unnecessarily of course. Cameron's scan would have been foolproof.

"Yes." She pushed him into an upholstered chair in the small, crowded café. There were two people sitting at every table, some holding hands, some kissing, some simply talking and laughing together. It made John uncomfortable.

Cameron stared steadily out the fogged up window for any sign of the one they were running away from. Cromartie. Again. This guy never cut him a break, John thought.

"can I get you two lovebirds anything?" a kindly lady in a heart-covered apron asked while holding an order pad. Cameron's eyes snapped to her and stared.

"No." she replied and went right back to staring out the window. John sighed.

"Sorry…I'll have a coffee, dark, no sugar. She'll have water." the lady smiled and gave John's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before going off to fill the order.

Valentine's Day. Of all the days of the year to be caught outside by Cromartie…

Cameron's hands lay out on the table, both of them in lightly made fists. John looked around curiously at the other tables and felt the heat rise in his cheeks at what he saw. They were REALLY standing out due to their lack of any affection. Every couple was being so lovey-dovey…If this kept up, and Cromartie came inside, they'd stick out for sure. He reached out a hand cautiously, resting it close to her right one. He took a deep breath and went all the way and took it in his. She didn't even look over, but wrapped her fingers gently around his own.

Her hand was soft and warm in his. "Cam…" he said gently, trying to get her to at least look at him. Staring out the window was no good to them if the terminator chose to enter. She finally looked back at him, her eyes glancing down first to their hands then up at him. They were bright…almost happy, not empty and fishy-looking like they usually were. He sucked in a breath.

"Yes?"

"I-" before John could finish his sentence, the door to the café opened and the bell jingled merrily. A tall man with empty brown eyes stared into the small space, scanning every couple.

A few were kissing quite passionately and his facial recognition scans returned incomplete. Cameron noticed his hesitation on these select couples and her logical programming took over.

She smiled slightly, trying to make this as easy a transition as she could for John.

"I know." she said simply and leaned forward. John found himself doing the same. Just as their lips met, Cromartie's scanning eyes landed on them.

**John Connor facial recognition scan: 50 Incomplete Match-Obscured. **He turned away.

John's insides turned to jelly as the kiss continued. It was soft and gentle and everything a kiss could be and more…And it was nothing like the one he'd shared with Riley not too long ago around Christmas. This one was…perfect…and did he honestly expect any less from Cameron? A Terminator?

Finally, it ended and they pulled away. John was surprised to see Cam had also closed her eyes. Was that strictly necessary for a kiss that was for cover purposes only? She did a quick scan. Cromartie was gone.

She blinked. "We should go." she said simply, getting up. John followed, a bit confused and still slightly punch-drunk from the kiss.

They were out in an alleyway before he could properly register his thoughts.

"What…just…what was that?" he asked as they walked along the alley to the opposite street.

"A cover. Obscuring our faces was the best possible plan to prevent Cromartie from completing a facial scan and targeting you."

She was walking quite fast. John struggled to keep up. "Wait-but…a kiss? Couldn't we have just left or something? Surely there were other ways to-"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

She stopped, and he skidded to a halt before he ran into her.

"There were other ways."

And with that, she continued out into the street, John running a light finger over his lips, storing the feeling away in his memory. There was next to no chance he'd ever get to feel it again…


	10. Set 00110: Reactions

_A.N.: My GOODNESS. I wrote a mess of drabbles in this notebook I have during school hours and here's part of the monster. It's a pain in the arse to retype stuff you wrote already. But at least I get to make corrections to it and share it with you guys. Usually what I hand write is never typed up. And usually what I hand-write is CLICHED TO THE MOSTEST, so I had to tone that all down. The adjectives, the dramatic monologues, lol. At least 3 more still have to be modded and typed. These were my favorites. All written post-Alison from Palmdale. XOXO my reviewers!_

* * *

**Drabble 21-Terrified**

* * *

It was incredibly late by the time John and Cameron got home, and pitch black in the house.

"Mom's not back and Derek's out…odd." John mumbled.

Cameron came to join him standing just before the front steps, the new necklace on her neck glinting in the automatic porch light.

"It doesn't matter. It's better this way. Avoids questions."

"About what?" Derek came up from the side of the house wiping grease from his fingers with a rag.

"Nothing." John answered too quickly and started up towards the house. Cameron followed close behind, giving Derek a look out of the corners of her eyes.

"You went out shopping didn't you?" Derek asked, tucking the rag into his pocket and coming close to the steps as well. The porch light did nothing to hide the heavy bags that were fast developing under his eyes and the scruff that decorated his chiseled jaw and neck.

"Yeah…we did…and?" John answered, paused with a hand on the doorknob.

"Where's the stuff you bought? I thought you were buying the groceries."

Derek studied the two. He'd quickly discovered John was very easy to read, something that would have to be remedied later, when his training started. It never did any good to be an open book of emotions. Right now, he looked completely exhausted and slightly relieved. Cameron was expressionless as always and Derek felt a flame of rage jump up again. There was no answer.

"She didn't…you know… happen to go screwy again did she?" he asked sarcastically.

"No, she didn't." John answered in a low defensive tone, almost like a growl. He turned to the door and shoved it open, letting it swing wide so Cameron could follow. She did, but not before turning to Derek.

"I didn't."

John threw the car keys on the side table by the door and started to go upstairs but paused, hands at his sides.

"You sure are lying a lot." he observed quietly, not facing her. Cameron's brow creased slightly at the statement. The she noticed a slight quiver from both sides of John's jacket.

"Your hands are shaking."

He immediately shoved them into his pockets.

"Well? Nothing to say for yourself? About the lying, I mean."

She took a step closer to him.

"John…are you afraid of me?"

He turned to look at her, strong green Connor eyes blazing into her moist mechanical brown ones. How could such kind, soft eyes belong to a machine, he thought…

"Terrified." John said through gritted teeth and started to go upstairs. She watched him go, not bothering to stop him or speak.

3...2...1...

"What the HELL was today about? Who's Alison, Why did you try and kill that girl and What HAPPENED to you?" he almost screamed, spinning to look down on her from the stairs. His knuckles gripped the banister so tight they were white.

Her head shot up and she stared at him in surprise.

"I don't know."

John panted on the stairs for another beat, then finally with a frustrated sigh, he went upstairs.

She watched him go, her face slightly twisting in sadness, brow furrowed and lip quivering. Unsure of why this was happening she went up to the mirror to try and correct the commands. Once her eyes lit upon her reflection, a vivid data file flashed across her field of sight.

_It was dark, the only light provided by a single naked light bulb on the ceiling. Water dripped wetly from the pipes overhead. The place smelled like burned plastic and garbage._

"_Alison?"_

_The voice was gruff but kind, and unbelievably familiar._

"_Yes?" she was answering out loud._

_Two large, careworn hands took her wrist and attached a reflective silver bracelet. They lingered on her wrist for a bit longer then they needed to._

"_I trust you with my life and out secret. Do you trust me with the same?"_

"_Yes, John, of course." she breathed , awestruck, tears pricking at her eyes._

The memory ended abruptly, like a ripped film strip in a projector. Cameron blinked and looked at her wrist. The bracelet was gone. Confused, she wandered into the living room. She didn't bother to turn on the light and car lights fluttered past, lighting her face momentarily in the gloom.

She stared there until 10 o clock the next day, when Sarah came home. John was still upstairs sleeping out yesterday's events.

Cameron was still trying to understand the memories she was getting. Sarah noticed her standing motionless by the sofa.

"good morning." she quipped sarcastically. 'Why aren't you patrolling the house like you always do?"

Cameron didn't answer for a beat. Sarah prepared to repeat herself.

"John is scared of me. I thought patrolling would prevent him from getting an adequate amount of sleep."

Sarah froze.

"Scared of you? What the hell did you DO to him yesterday?"

Cameron blinked.

"Nothing."

Sarah seemed ready to launch into a diatribe on how much of a liar Cameron was becoming, but she didn't, running a hand exasperatedly through her matted hair and walking off towards the kitchen for some home-brewed coffee. It'd be a subtle improvement over the hospital brand she'd sampled through the night. She'd seen Kacey home and to bed, but had worried most of the night away anyway.

John…scared of Cameron…something serious had gone down. After the coffee was done she went upstairs and knocked gently on the door before opening it.

"Morning sunshine…" she murmured sleepily, walking up to the small child's bed her son was sleeping on. John didn't answer, staring determinedly at the ceiling. He'd obviously been awake for a while, lost in thought.

"So…did you have a bad day yesterday?" she asked.

He didn't speak, too afraid of what he'd say.

"John, I know how mad you are at me about what happened, but you can't keep lying to yourself. She's not to be trusted any more. Who knows what she might do?"

John sighed angrily and turned away. He just wanted to be alone…

"I don't need to prove anything to anyone. Besides, if she was really going to try and kill me again, We wouldn't be having this conversation."

Sarah watched him pensively.

"She's different." he continued, voice cracking with emotion. "She always was. She always will be."

Sarah got up and went to the door, again unwilling to get into an argument with John. She knew it was useless anyway. He was too far gone. She tried to change tack.

"Kacey's baby-daddy is a cop. He invited you out to a shooting range sometime. Up for it?"

John leaned forward on the bed, ruffling his short cropped hair. "A shooting range…you'd let me go alone?" he had that playful glint in his eyes again, the kind that somehow always managed to remind Sarah of Kyle.

She smirked. "No, of course not. Derek's going too."

John fell back onto the bed and sighed, a slight smile still tugging at the side of his mouth. Shooting guns would be just the way to forget about Cameron's little "episode".

He was genuinely looking forward to it.

* * *

**Drabble 22-Departure**

* * *

"John."

"what?" he groaned, turning towards his cyborg bodyguard.

She stared at him, eyebrows tilted slightly upward in disappointment at his less then favorable reaction. She'd been a lot more expressive lately, especially with him. It had gotten to the point where she seemed near tears when he'd told her to leave him alone earlier in the week. But trodding emotional ground with her was something he was certainly not used to doing.

"I forgot what I was going to say." she finally answered bemusedly.

"Great. Get back to me when you remember then." John said, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door.

'Where are you going?" she asked, almost plaintively as he did so.

"Out with Derek. Alone." he added as she made to answer.

"I don't like this. I should go as well." Cameron argued.

"No. you're staying here with me." Sarah appeared on the stairs, giving Cameron a meaningful glance.

"I have to protect John. I need to accompany him."

"Derek'll do fine, I'm sure. And surrounded by guns? Please. You're staying here, missy." Sarah repeated with some finality. Cameron looked almost panic-stricken, when John displayed a rare moment of kindness and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright. I'll be back by lunch, the latest. No worries." he tried to smile, but it came off as more of a grimace. She mimicked his effort and nodded.

"Be safe." she said as an afterthought. John gave her one last winning grin before disappearing into the car. Cameron stayed rooted in the doorway until the Dodge was completely swallowed up by trees. Sarah was watching the cyborg stare longingly after her son with well-hidden disgust. A guard dog that couldn't be trusted is right. One minute she wanted to kill him, the next she was pining after him. Talk about extreme mood swings.

She came up behind Cam and closed the door. Cameron stared at her.

"It's not the end of the world. He's coming back. I trust that of Derek more then you of any rate."

Her comment had the desired biting affect. Cameron frowned.

"If he doesn't-"

Sarah was already gone. Cameron propped herself on the edge of the windowsill and waited, watching the road for John's return.

* * *

**Drabble 23-Moms**

* * *

"Can I hold him?"

The request broke the silence in the serene and otherwise quiet atmosphere of the house. Sarah was in the kitchen washing the dishes after their big "Welcome Home" lunch, Kacey was bouncing the baby on her knee on the sofa, and John was leaning back in the easy chair, trying to fight the sleep that clung to his eyes.

Cameron's question caused him to sit up sharply, the chair giving a loud protest. Kacey shifted slightly on the sofa uncomfortably.

"Sure…but you have to be sitting down." Kacey said almost reluctantly. Cameron obeyed and sat next to her on the sofa. Kacey gently shifted the baby from her large lap to Cameron's tiny one. John watched the proceedings with muted interest.

"Okay now, support his head…that's right…easy…awesome! You'd probably make a great mom someday! After college of course." Kacey giggled playfully.

It was true. Cam's body seemed to mold to the baby's as she held his head with the precision and ease of a finely tuned machine. But John's heart skipped at Kacey's words. How would Cam reply to that? A myriad of possible replies rushed through his head, none of the them pleasant.

"_I can never be a mother."_

"_I can't bear children."_

"_I'm not human."_

"_I don't have the system necessary for procreation."_

John held his breath. The baby sneezed and Cameron smiled slightly.

"Thanks."

That was it?

Kacey looked more then satisfied with this answer. John realized he'd underestimated Cameron just a smidge.

The terminator started to run a light as a feather finger over the baby's delicate features. The downy eyelashes, the button nose, the chubby cheeks, the miniscule lips…

John came over and leaned on the sofa behind her.

"So, you like babies now?" he asked sarcastically.

She looked up at him, no longer smiling with her mouth, but with her eyes. And her eye-smiles always caught poor John off guard. His heart melted.

"Yes. I do. They are very cute. Kind of like small animals. Only better."

John smiled at her odd, but honest answer. Cameron started to gently sway her arms a few degrees back and forth. The baby's eyes fluttered and finally closed.

"Whoah…this girl's a natural!" Kacey grinned. "But it's time for Meanie Mommy to end all the fun. I know, I know. But it's almost time for his second lunch."

Cameron reluctantly shifted the baby back to Kacey's lap, staring at her empty hands almost sadly.

"you okay?" John asked worriedly, noting the signs of a possible glitching episode.

"No." she answered honestly.

"Let's go for a walk. C'mon." John said gently, trying not to alarm Kacey. Cameron nodded and followed, giving the baby one last look before following John outside.

Sarah re-emerged from the kitchen just as they left.

"It's really nice to see how well your kids get along." Kacey commented while looking up at Sarah. "I know if I had a little sister I'd torture her to death. John seems really close to Cameron though. It's sweet."

Sarah nodded, staring out the window and watching the two silhouettes get smaller and smaller. "Yeah. They've been close for a while now." she said almost to herself.

"Hey, if Cameron ever wants some extra cash, she can babysit!" Kacey suggested. Sarah could almost see the light bulb over the young mother's head.

"-With John of course. I didn't forget about what you told me concerning her "condition" " Kacey made air quotes with one hand, the other filled with baby.

Sarah smiled gratefully at Kacey. "Sure. That'd be nice. I'm sure they'd love to."

"yeah. She seemed to like him a lot, Cameron. I swear, I've never seen that girl smile like that before."

"Really…" Sarah quickly changed the subject to finishing the nursery for the baby to try and dispel the feeling of unease as she listened to how well Cameron had been with the baby. It conflicted with everything she'd firmly believed about the cyborg bodyguard.

She killed. That's what she was built to do. If she was told to kill a baby she would do that too…

Or would she…?

* * *

**Drabble 24-Making Conversation**

* * *

"Are you ok? I think you almost blanked out again back there."

"Yes, I'm fine. Just curious…"

"About?"

"…All humans are babies first, correct?"

"Yup! We all start out bald and toothless. Charming, no?"

"I think my programming is in conflict."

"How so?"

"I don't know exactly."

She looked contemplatively out over the open expanse of field they'd walked to. Endless grass, endless sky…

_Babies are nice…I was never a baby…_

She turned and noticed John was staring at her.

"Do I have something on my face?" she raised a hand to her cheek.

"No." John said quickly, turning away, a blush rising in his face.

"Then why were you staring at me?"

"I don't know, okay? Let's get back. Mom'll throw a fit."

John started walking back to the house. Cameron trailed behind, staring at his back, thinking…

"After Judgment day…there are no more babies…"

John felt a shiver run up his back and turned to face her.

"Most of them didn't survive the nuclear repercussions. Some starved. Many were killed."

She said all this in a quivering voice, like she was about to cry. John still had to get used to this. Before, she'd be saying these things with no emotion, and it would tear him up inside. Now, he was just sad to hear about this at all…and sad to see it making her so upset.

"Only the ones who could run survived…"

A single tear ran down her cheek. And before John could really think about what he was doing, he moved close and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her fiercely.

"I won't let that happen." he whispered.

A sob escaped her throat and she clung to him just as fiercely.

"I won't…"


	11. Set 00111: Conclusion

**Snapshots of Reality**

_**A/n: heeeeyyyooo my readers! I had this written for a while, but I wasn't sure if it was Jameron-y enough to post. It's also in a slightly more detailed writing style then my usual stuff. I tend to get inspired by books that I'm reading at the moment and that's pretty much what happened here. I think it reads quite nicely but might be a jolt for people just coming in from the previous chapters. I also have to say i really appreciate all the recent faves I've been getting on this story, since it's been so long since any updates. Just goes to show, the jameronites never die! xD So, I hope you like this little post-show-finale drabble. I have a sinking feeling it might be the last thing I write for PlayBack, but I don't like to say never, so I might be wrong about that. Enjoy! XOXO my reviewers!**_

His fingers were empty, somehow useless and twitchy. Nothing he did could relieve this desire to do something with them. It was nerve-wracking. One second they were at his sides, clutching the chair beneath him, trying to steady the wobbling as the joints groaned with age and strain. The next, they were running through his hair, already overgrowing the drastic haircut he'd given himself a few months ago. A few decades ago he corrected himself with a barely audible derisive snort. He was supposed to be middle-aged right now. Older then Derek. Older then Kyle. And beyond wise. But he was just a kid. A kid who's heart was aching for something he didn't know it could ache for so steadfastly.

He wished for a gun to wrap his fingers around, at least so he could check the gauge and study it for some semblance of usefulness and sanity. Guns made him calm down. Living half his life around them on a day to day basis gave him a morbid sense of comfort in knowing he could down anything that moved with a few well-placed rounds. It was an instinct stamped into him by his mother.

His mother. It hurt to even think about her, and how her eyes looked as the blue lightning crashed around him and he gave her up to try and quench that aching, that horrible emptiness he felt in his heart. He knew he couldn't live his life knowing he hadn't at least tried. And Sarah would have to understand. He was trying now. It had only been a few hours but he felt better for it. Frazzled, but better. At least, he was trying.

The room they'd placed him in was cold. Dark, cold, and rancid with the smell of wet rust and metal. It was so damp he could almost feel the fungus starting to develop in his lungs. This was no living environment for the resistance. They'd die off of some horrible diseases before they could even mobilize. But it was hardly the time to be thinking about that. His fingers ran slowly down his thighs, to his knees, and tapped there, nails already crusted with grime. He must look so foreign here, with his clean shaven face and newly bathed body. Some of those people with Derek looked as if they hadn't bathed in weeks. But she…she was flawless…as always.

But it wasn't her. His fingers stopped tapping and clamped suddenly against his pants over his knees. The fabric was threadbare, but oddly warm. Something unexpected…like seeing her…and having it really not be her. It was mind-boggling and confusing and…

He snapped his head up, green eyes boring into the semi-darkness, seeking out the cause of the sound. "Who's there?" he barked hoarsely, hands slipping off his knees and clenching into half-fists. Ready to fight. God, he wished he had a gun.

"John Connor you said your name was?" It was a calm, young-sounding voice. Not Derek then. The shadowy figure stepped into the light over John's head. The boyish quality to Kyle's face made John want to cry. This, this was his father. Barely older then he was. It was wrong. It defied nature. It defied logic. But here he was. His mind raced, trying to decide whether to tell him or not. What would Sarah do?

"Is that your name or not?" Kyle kicked out at John's leg, his boot glancing against the chair. John jumped, eyes blinking in annoyance.

"Easy, buddy. Yeah, I'm John Connor." he looked away again, unable to stare into those pale eyes…it was like he was looking at himself. Not very helpful to his concentration. He had to figure out where John Henry had gone. If he'd time-traveled to the same spot, same time, he couldn't have gotten far. Kyle and Derek and the rest might have seen him…or he might have slipped away, unnoticed, his initial arrival drawing the fighters too late to catch him, but right on time to catch John…and where had Weaver gone? Knowing she could be anywhere, and anyONE just made John feel even less at ease. What was he thinking? What was he doing here? He was so far out of his league it wasn't funny. He shook his head dazedly. Even through all these disturbing thoughts, her image kept flying to the forefront. It was all he could do to focus on everything else.

"Where are you from, John?" Kyle's tone had taken on an impatient tinge, and he made to nudge the chair again. John stopped his boot with his own foot, finally looking up and meeting his father's eyes.

"I'm not from around here, that's for sure." They stared at each other for a good few seconds, seeming to scope each other out, before Kyle relented and lowered his boot, as well as a hand that was staying quite close to his waist, probably where he kept his gun. John suddenly had another strong urge for a weapon. Being so defenseless and useless made him uneasy. His fingers ran through his hair again, then he tucked them into the pockets of the jacket they'd also supplied him with. Crumbs of who-knew-what brushed against the pads of his fingers. He closed his eyes briefly in disgust. How did people live like this?

How did he live like this?

Kyle was quiet for a moment longer, then finally parted his lips for speech. A question. Simple in principle but oh, so difficult to answer.

"Why are you here, John…now. Why are you here now?"

The now's had a certain emphasis to them that made John think Kyle knew more then he was letting on. Conflicts arose in his head like warning lights, telling him to tread carefully, but to not be too cautious. _Cameron. Tell him what he needs to know. Cameron's missing. Gone. He took her. Tell him you need to find somebody. Something. She's not a thing. She's gone. You need to find her. No one else knows she's here but you. Tell him. Tell him._

The basic need to trust his father roared like an angry monster in John's heart. He could tell Kyle anything. He could trust him. But then reason took over and prevented it. _Tell him bits and pieces, John. Just bits and pieces._

_That's all she'll be if you don't find her. Bits and pieces._

"I'm looking for somebody."

Kyle cocked his head, an indication for John to continue. He swallowed and did so, the air becoming increasingly stifling.

"I'm looking for…for someone…called…John Henry. He calls himself John Henry. He comes from the same place I do. I have to find him. He's…He's important." John couldn't keep the edge of desperation out of his voice as he spoke, and only prayed Kyle didn't notice and ask more pressing questions.

"Why is he so important?" Kyle pulled up another wobbly and decaying chair, next to John's. Somehow John thought he was paying a bit too much attention to the weird kid that appeared out of no where then the Resistance that was seething all around them. Kyle was smarter then he looked. And somehow that made him swell with pride.

"He has something I need." John finally said through gritted teeth, looking away again. Kyle's face frowned. Not just his mouth turned down, but his whole countenance seemed one big furrow of worry. "Look, kid, I don't think it's a good idea to be going looking for anybody in the bunker right now. There's some lower levels that aren't secure, and Anybody who needs it is given shelter, and anybody can leave whenever they want to, not that anybody would want to. I can't give you my word that your John Henry is even in the bunker anymore."

John felt his heart deflate. The emptiness gnawing again, breaking him down ever so slowly from the inside. That desperation that clung so tightly to his very being. He withdrew his hands from the pockets of the jacket. They were cold…so cold…

_Bits and pieces…_

"I'm sorry, I don't know what to tell you." Kyle reached out a hand and rested it comfortingly on John's shoulder. The younger boy looked up at his father's face, barely 4 years older then his own, wondering how anybody could look so weak, and yet be so powerful. It was the one difference in Kyle that he saw that made him different then the Future Him he'd imagined. Kyle let people in. Kyle loved. Even when he wasn't just that lonely foot soldier sent to father the leader of the resistance, he didn't back down. He lived, he fought, he cried. And one day, he'd die. Same as the rest. And his very presence seemed to give off the feeling that he was okay with that. He didn't fear death. He faced it everyday. And he lived every day like death was about to come and wisk him away.

It was a wisdom John knew he'd never have. He'd never understand. And He'd never come to value.

From what Cameron had told him, Future John Connor was cold, calculating, a loner who kept to himself and who had loyalty, but never true friendship. People followed him simply because he seemed to know what he was doing. Like he was born for this. Born to lead, born to fight. Not because he was John Connor.

"Then I have to go find him." John breathed at last, turning his envious eyes away from this man who was so much more then he'd ever be… "Can I have weapons? And preferably a map or something?" John couldn't help but smirk. Who knew if they even had paper here?

Kyle laughed. It was thin and strained, but it was there. John stared. "Sure! Like we just give out weapons and maps everyday to any old bloke who waltzes into our bunkers naked! Give me a break!" he slapped John on the back again and stood up with a whoosh of his coat. the chair he was sitting on fell backward, but he didn't even bother to get up and right it again. John could tell he knew he was too big to care. Too important to worry about a chair. And suddenly he felt even more insignificant.

He started for the door and turned around, all stern business again. "You stay here until we can figure out what we can about you, and then maybe we'll let you go. Sorry, kid. Protocol." he made to leave, but John couldn't let him go, not yet. He needed something…

"Wait…" Kyle turned around again and studied John curiously.

"That girl…that girl that was with you before, with the dog, when you found me…What's her name?"

Kyle's face grew dark. "Why? You know her from somewhere?" he stepped back into the room, coat flapping against the doorjamb. A cool rust-scented breeze accompanied him in.

"No, I…she looks familiar…"

Kyle was about to answer, when the girl herself came up to the door. It was obvious she'd been standing near the entrance for a while, her ratty clothes clinging to her painfully thin, but fit body. Her beautiful face marred by dirt and grime, but much less then the others. She obviously made an effort to take care of herself more then they did. Tear streaks marked clear lines down her cheeks. Seeing her made John's whole body flush with warmth. He smiled. It was ok…she was here…he was safe now…everything would be alright…

She looked at him with something close to fear, and John's smile fell. It wasn't her. It never would be…and yet…"Kyle…Derek wants to see you. Said it's important." her voice was the same, too. The same mechanical monotone. It was all John could do not to ask her why she'd left him back there, why she'd acted that way…if she was ok…if she was happy…

Kyle nodded and left the room with one last lingering gaze at John. The girl stayed, her bright brown eyes heavy with sadness. Full of a life Cameron hadn't led. She knew things, had seen things and felt things Cameron never could…

"You're…John, right?" she asked softly, crossing her arms over her chest and walking slowly into the room, her boots making barely a sound on the filthy floor. Dancer's feet…it almost seemed like she was memorizing choreography with the exact way she stepped across the floor. It wasn't purposeful and intent, like Cameron's stride, that jarred her hips and seemed to only serve a means to an end. It was meandering and unsure…human.

"Yeah, that's me." his voice was soft, the way it always was when he was around her. _Jesus, Cameron when I find you again…Remind me to tell you you're unspeakably beautiful…_"How about you? Got a name?"

The girl sighed. "Yeah. But I don't really like it." She even had that oh-so-typical human female humility. It was unnerving. And it also made John hate himself for never asking Cameron where her name had come from…and if she liked it…if she could like things. Visions of car rides and radio adjustments made him smile again.

"I'm sure it's a really nice name. Better then John at any rate. Talk about boring."

He studied her closely. He'd always figured Cameron was built to mimic a girl he'd imagined, or dreamed up, or had seen in a picture, and that this girl had been a bit older then he was. 17, 18 tops. But this girl, who seemed to be the real template seemed much older. Maybe pushing 21. It might be the sadness in her eyes and the way she hadn't quite gotten used to staring death in the face that made her seem older. Or the fact that she seemed to be much more aware of herself then Cameron ever was.

She smiled. Not really. It was a tiny little quirk in the corner of her mouth. Those perfect lips John had imagined kissing time and time again, only he didn't want to anymore. It almost felt wrong to even picture that now. But having her here, nearby, made him feel safe, even if she wasn't **real** and she could protect him about as much as a moldy chair could, and more then half as long, with that fleshy, insignificant body. It had nothing but organs and blood and tissue underneath it. So easy to kill…

"It's Allison. My name. Just Allison." John realized he was standing up a few seconds after he'd actually stood up. The girl took a step back, that fear coming back to her eyes. It made him angry. She had no right to be afraid!

"That's…" he paused, taking another step closer. She took another step back.

"…a nice name…Say, does the name Cameron mean anything to you at all?"

"Other then the fact that it's way cooler then Allison…no." she said huffily. Just a girl. Just some girl who happened to look like the one person he couldn't go without. He struggled to smile.

"Who's Cameron? Your girlfriend? Boyfriend?" she was being playful. Good Lord, she was playing with him. John clenched his fist. Flirting, teasing…it didn't feel right. It never had.

"Yeah…something like that. The first one."

"Oh…." she looked away at the door, and made to leave. John let her go, staring at the back of her head.

"Well…I hope you find her…she's gotta be around…somewhere." and with that, Allison disappeared into the hallway.

_We were designed to kill humans…that's our sole function…_

_Not you…_

_No, not anymore…_

His hands finally found something to do…

Wrapped protectively around the solid round piece of metal that hung by a chain around his neck. It was warm to the touch, having been kept against his skin for days…he hadn't even taken it off to shower.

He flicked it open with one quick move of his thumb and caressed the buttons inside. Slowly, oh so slowly he pressed them in succession.

Black…black…red…hold…

_No, not anymore…_

_**A/n: btw, i KNOW John went through time and should have left everything behind, including the watch. but I kept this ending for it's dramatic purposes, and because I'd like to think that the watch was too much a part of John for it to be left behind on a technicality like it being metal. it's sci-fi. rules can be bent. xD so...don't yell at me. rofl**  
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